Today I have a message which will edify you greatly. It’s a theme of extreme importance for every Christian, which I feel is often neglected either purposely or unconsciously.
Nevertheless, my mission here today is to take you all through a process of deepening your knowledge on this topic. With a view of strengthening/equipping you or better equipping you for the Christian walk.
I’d like to start with a question, what would you consider the biggest hurdle for you as a Christian?
As someone who is trying to do the right thing, praise God and be faithful to Him?
- For some of you its discipline, difficulty in keeping up with the daily devotionals.
- For some of you its temperament, you get easily irritated, and lose the control of you actions quickly
- Maybe even for some is addictions, pornography, smoking, drinking etc. Things that you’ve struggled with since becoming a Christian.
Today I want to speak about one of the greatest battles every Christian faces—not the battle against Satan, but the battle for the condition of our own heart.
Because the Word of God produces fruit in every believer, but not every heart receives it the same way.
Fact is: The condition of the heart determines what the Word of God produces!
The title of today’s message is Four Hearts, One Seed!
Let’s read the principal scripture which will serve as the backbone for our discussion today!
Matthew 13:1-9
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matthew 13:1-9
In essence our Lord Jesus in this parable identifies 3x problem areas for us, to help us diagnose problems with how we interact with Him.
Firstly, I want to clarify what I mean when I say the heart.
Point 1: Understanding the Heart
The heart in essence, is the place of your will, your decisions. Your wants, desires, it is how you interpret and understand things. It is where you determine your priorities.
It is the you if you had no body or spirit. In other words, your soul, your essence, your heart, all mean the same thing.
What we see when delving into scripture, is that the heart is heavily influenced by the flesh (Body).
The reason for that is simply a matter of exposure. Before any of us became a Christian. We were spiritually dead according to the bible.
I’m going to go through a quick biblical dissection, tune in with me!
Paul speaking to the Ephesians, writes:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” Ephesians 2:1
Paul isn’t talking about literally dead people, otherwise we wouldn’t have the letter to the Ephesians, so, what was dead?
Jesus when speaking to Nicodemus about being born-again, John 3:5
“..no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5
So, if to enter the Kingdom of heaven we need to be born again of water and spirit according to John 3:5, who then was dead in our transgression and sin according to Ephesians 2:1.
Our spirit!
What is the relevance,
Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, when exhorting the disciples. Says:
41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
The spirit is willing and ready to the things of the Lord; the flesh however is weak to the things of the Lord.
If the spirit was dead, the means through which we do the things of God. Who/what then was very much alive?
The Flesh and the Heart
Therefore, in an environment that had no spirit influencing the heart, the flesh was the only thing influencing the heart!
The point being, before Christ our spirit was dead!
The heavy influence of the flesh makes our heart week for the things of God, his word, praying, fasting!
That is why Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
For that reason, when we come to Christ, an internal conflict begins between the flesh and the spirit.
The flesh must be overcome in our hearts/our soul, place of our decisions. But we can’t trust our heart to do the right thing on its own.
We need to expose it to the spirit,
The bible describes God as “consuming fire”
“for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 NIV
Let’s take that as analogy. Imagine a coal that is burning in a strong fire! say this coal is removed from the fire and is left to rest in the cold. What happens to it overtime?
It cools; it loses its heat – The same applies to our lives when we don’t expose ourselves to the spirit!
Point 2: The Vulnerable Hearts
Going back to the parable if we read further down in Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus himself explains the parable, in vs 19.
Let’s take one at a time so that we understand exactly what our Lord is saying.
Mathew 13:19, – First about the seed sown in the Path
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. Mathew 13:19
Let’s clarify a few things.
What is the seed in every one of the parable scenarios? – the word God / The Gospel.
Who is the farmer? Jesus himself, in another parable in this same chapter. Jesus explains this!
He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. Matthew 13:37
And what is the Heart? The soil!
And we know that the seed is perfect, its constant, never changing! If there are problems as Jesus states, it will always be with the soil or our hearts.
Vs 19 states that:
Satan is always waiting to steal the word of God from your heart. This happens every time you hear the word and don’t understand it.
So, what is important to avoid this vulnerability according to the verse? Understanding the word!
The next obvious question is: HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THE WORD?
Understanding comes through two things:
- Regular exposure to the word of God (Bible reading)
- Revelation from the holy spirit! (Relationship with the Spirit)
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1 Corinthian 2: 12-13
Did you get that?
Recapping, the scenario of the seed sown along the path. States that a person that has limited exposure to the word of God and limited relationship with the Holy spirit is a person more susceptible to attacks from Satan.
It’s what we understand to be a classical example of a spiritually weak person!
Therefore, to be spiritually strong, we need to immerse ourselves in scripture, prayer and fasting.
But there is yet other facets that affect the heart.
20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Matthew 13:20-21
So, in this scenario, we have a different problem!
Here we have a person who hears the word, understands it, receives but has no root!
What does it mean to have root?
Naturally, root talks about depth. If we take the seed analogy, the problem the seed had was its root wasn’t deep enough to get to bigger sources of water!
It’s not that it had no water – noting that water is synonymous with the holy spirit in the bible, it’s that the level of water the seed had wasn’t enough to sustain growth!
A person with no root, is the classic lukewarm Christian.
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16
What is a lukewarm Christian?
Basically, it’s someone who has a foot in the church and a foot in the world.
Someone who hasn’t put God first, who hasn’t given God a place of excellence, doesn’t offer their best to God.
Goes to the church but also goes to the pub or frequents environments where God isn’t praised, is always mixing things! And because of that never develops roots.
But the biblical instruction for us is to stir away from these things.
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11 NIV
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NIV
If we want to grow in our faith, and have the word of God mould us, we need to be bold like Joshua and decide today who we will serve. The world or God.
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Johsua 24:15
And lastly then is the seed falling between the thorns,
22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. Matthew 13:22
And with this the Lord Jesus exposes our third vulnerability! It’s the classical circumstantial Christian!
When things are well, they thank God and glorify Him. But when things go south, they become disheartened and lose the motivation to seek God.
They go to church when they feel like it, their actions are governed by their feeling not the word of God.
They are unable to live or grasp the invisible things of God. For they live very much in the natural realm.
Matthew 6:19 – We have a warning from our Lord Jesus!
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
If we seek God, only looking to receive things for this earth, we’ll be disappointed a lot!
Because on this earth, circumstances have a transitory nature, our experiences here are cyclical and temporary. Everything on this earth has a shelf life, even our own lives!
That is why the bible tells to set on our heart on things above!
Colossians 3: 1-2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3: 1-2
3rd Point: Fertile Soil
It is worth noting that we must look at the vulnerabilities we just spoke about as state that any of us at any moment can be in.
What do I mean by that?
We know that this life is progressive, imagine us all walking or running down a path. Things around us are constantly changing, we are constantly changing or should be!
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthian 9:24
That is why beloved the level we’ve achieved until now should never be a place of comfort for us! Do not be conformed!
Many love to boast of how long they have been a Christian, but the real question is how consistent have we been?
Why, we should run our race as someone who runs to win!
And a characteristic of a winner, consistent training and dedication. Any athlete who neglects their training, loses performance!
Vs 25
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
1 Corinthian 9:25
If we are inconsistent in our race beloved, we end up exposing ourselves to the vulnerabilities I discussed previously, even though we’ve been around a while, even though we’ve been fertile soil before.
The bible is constantly warning us about this!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
If the warning exists, it’s because reversal is possible. Beware! The Lord Jesus says the same thing!
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
Now what is Fertile soil then?
It is a state of the heart, where the vulnerabilities I spoke about does not exist!
What are the vulnerabilities:
- Seed along the path: Lack of commitment with scripture and prayer
- Seed on Rocky Soil: Lukewarm Christian, foot in the church, foot in the world
- Seed on thorning soil: Circumstantial Christian, soul Christian. Faith dictated by feelings not the word of God!
A FERTILE HEART IS A HEART THAT IS ROOTED IN GOD’S WORD, FULLY COMMITTED TO CHRIST, AND FOCUSED ON ETERNITY.
When we reach this level, we are at an ideal state. The word God then comes in and starts producing fruit.
And fruits can mean many things: Spiritual growth, maturity, fruits of the spirit, strengthening and the list goes on, basically anything that the word of God can produce in us.
It’s a state every Christian must strive to achieve and maintain!
Emphasis on maintain, every farmer know that good soil needs constant care.
Removal of weed, ploughing to soften the soil and remove rocks. You must harvest and re-sow seasonally!
The bible tells us that in this state, gradually and progressively we start to look like Jesus!
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18
Who wants to be more like Jesus?
Conclusion:
We are finishing and I think it’s worth mentioning that in this walk or race. We are not alone.
We have the grace of Jesus; it is not a cheap Grace it is a grace that empowers us to overcome our human difficulties!
We must hold fast onto Him!
We have the Holy spirit, our counsellor, God in us. Guiding us, exhorting us, revealing to us the mysteries of the word of God.
There are spiritual resources!
But we must not be neglectful, we need to be the ones drawing near to Him.
“Come near to God and he will come near to you” James 4:8 NIV
We need to be ones avoiding the world, seeking environments that glorify God!
We need to be the ones running after scripture, opening our bibles and reading. Bending our knees and praying! / Fasting!
The process on the inside however belongs to Him and He is Faithful.
Do you believe that?
Church, every single one of us has a heart today.
We should ask ourselves the question: WHAT IS THE CONDITION MY HEART IS IN TODAY?
WHAT KIND OF SOIL IS IT? ROCKY, THORNY OR FERTILE?
Has the enemy stolen the Word? – have you been giving space for the birds to come and steal the word?
Have the rocks prevented roots?
Have the worries of life choked what God planted?
Or
Has your heart become fertile soil where Christ can produce thirty, sixty, even one hundredfold?
Because the condition of your heart today determines the fruit of your life tomorrow.
The good news is that no heart is beyond God’s reach. A hard heart can become soft. A shallow heart can grow deep roots. A heart full of thorns can be cleansed.Jesus is still transforming hearts today.